


Two-Spirit

by SonjaJade



Series: Celestial Ciphers [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Trans Birth, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 01:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20399239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Mei Elric has given birth to a girl. However, the child's spirit energy, its ki, is male. What do you do with a child that has the parts of one gender and the soul of another? Mei's mother knows- do Mei and Al?





	Two-Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> Moms Made Fullmetal 2019 Day 2- Birth/Everything Changes
> 
> This piece takes place in a larger universe I've created called Celestial Ciphers.

“You’re doing great, Mei!” Chang Niao cried as she peered over the midwife’s shoulder. “He’s almost out!” Her daughter was sweating hard and red faced from pushing, but she took a moment to close her eyes and center herself. Then, she took a deep breath and summoned all her strength and finally gave birth to her fourth baby.

Her grandson was whisked away to the bath by the nursing attendants, and she followed right beside them. Her eyes scanned the wailing child from head to toe, and then she paused.

“Mei, I thought you said his  _ ki _ was male?”

Her daughter lay panting in her bed. Weakly, she answered, “It is!”

But Niao knew what a penis looked like- after all, she’d been a royal courtesan for years- and this child did not have one. “Mei, this child has female parts- he’s a two-spirit baby!”

Mei raised her head, eyes wide with shock. “A two-spirit baby?” she gasped. “Those are incredibly rare!”

“He’s a gift from the gods!” Niao exclaimed, hopping up and down like a giddy girl. “You have both a son and a daughter in one body! Like twins, but with less work!”

Mei chuckled. “Of course I’d have another set of twins.”

Once she’d delivered the afterbirth and the midwife cleaned her up, Niao’s son-in-law from Amestris entered the birthing chamber and was presented with the unique newborn, and when he was told the son he was expecting was two-spirit, he momentarily panicked.

“But this changes everything! We had  _ male _ clothing made and a  _ male _ name picked out! How does a child have the physical parts of one sex but the  _ ki _ of another?”

“It changes nothing,” Niao said calmly. “A two-spirit child is a blessing! And don’t worry- the male things are appropriate in this case. In Xing, we recognize the expression of the  _ ki. _ If the life energies are male, regardless of the baby’s sex, it is recognized as male. Imagine trying to wear dresses and fancy hairstyles everyday, Al-sama. You’d be miserable. And this one will be miserable if you put him in girl’s clothes.”

Al still wasn’t convinced. “But what about when it comes time for him to marry? To bear children of her... his? Own?”

Niao laughed. “By that time, this child will be able to speak for himself. You don’t need to make those decisions-  _ he does _ .” She combed the baby’s hair with her fingers as he drowsed in his father’s arms. “I suspect you have two-spirit children in Amestris as well, but without being able to read  _ ki _ like the Xingese can, I’m sure they all go unnoticed and feel trapped in a body and expression that doesn’t feel right, and they don’t know why.”

Al’s fingertip stroked the baby’s cheek. “So it’s a boy, but he’s got a girl’s body.”

“Right.”

“And this isn’t abnormal? He’ll grow up just fine without being teased or mocked for what he can’t help?”

Niao shook her head. “Two-spirit children are special for a reason. It’s said that when the gods can’t decide which would suit a mother more, they give her child that’s both- it’s a true gift from the heavens.” She assured her daughter’s husband that raising him wouldn’t be any different from raising their son Rei, apart from potty training. “Now then, what’s my grandson’s name?”

Al gazed down at the baby’s face and smiled softly. “Jin, which makes more sense now than before.”

Niao cocked her head to the side, brows knitted in confusion. “Why?”

“In Amestrian, our version of Jin is both a boy’s name and a girl’s name, depending on how you spell it. And since we’ve been naming our children so that their names are appropriate in both languages, this suits him better than it did an hour ago.”

Niao smiled. “Everything’s going to be fine, Al-sama. I promise, Jin’s birth has been a divine blessing.” As she watched him join Mei in their bed with their new baby, she said a prayer of thanks before begging to hold him.


End file.
